50 free Hajj trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Every year more than two million people converge on Mecca for the same five or six days, and this quiz walks through what they do and why. It covers the Hajj as one of the Five Pillars, the timing in Dhu'l-Hijja and why the date drifts, the white garments of ihram and what they forbid, the seven circuits of tawaf, the walk between Safa and Marwah, the vigil at Arafat, the night at Muzdalifah, the pebbles thrown at Mina, the sacrifice and Eid al-Adha, and the farewell tawaf. The history questions reach from Abraham, Hajar and Ishmael to Muhammad's Farewell Pilgrimage in 632, the medieval caravans and their commanders, the Qarmatians who stole the Black Stone, Mansa Musa's golden journey, Malcolm X in 1964, and the modern logistics of tents, terminals, quotas and apps. Easy questions suit anyone with a general knowledge of Islam; the harder tier asks about ramal, tarwiyah and the caliph who sent the first Egyptian kiswah. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the Hajj, the Kaaba, the Black Stone, Zamzam and the sites of the pilgrimage, and the supporting sentence is attached to each question. For the wider faith, try our Islam quiz, and for the city itself, our Mecca quiz.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Hajj is a pilgrimage to Islam's holiest city, in which modern country?
Saudi Arabia
Pilgrims usually visit Medina and the Prophet's Mosque on the same journey, but that is not part of the rite.
Q 02How many times in a lifetime is a Muslim who is able required to perform the Hajj?
Once
The duty applies to those physically and financially capable of the journey while still supporting their family.
Q 03The Hajj is one of how many Pillars of Islam?
Five
The others are the declaration of faith, prayer, almsgiving and the Ramadan fast.
Q 04In which month of the Islamic calendar does the Hajj take place?
Dhu'l-Hijja
It is the twelfth and last month; because the lunar year is shorter, the Gregorian date moves earlier each year.
Q 05Roughly how many days earlier does the Hajj fall each Gregorian year?
About eleven
That drift means the Hajj falls twice in one Gregorian year every 33 years, most recently in 2006.
Q 06Which year set the record for Hajj attendance, with over 3.1 million pilgrims?
2012
The 2000–2019 average was about 2.27 million, two-thirds of them from abroad.
Q 07The Arabic word ḥajj is related to which Hebrew word for 'festival'?
Ḥag
The Hebrew term covered the three yearly pilgrimage festivals to the Temple in Jerusalem.
Q 08According to Islamic tradition, which prophet built the Kaaba with the help of his son Ishmael?
Abraham
The Quran refers to the story in verses 2:124–127 and 22:27–30.
Q 09Whose desperate search for water, running between two hills, is re-enacted by pilgrims?
Hajar, the mother of Ishmael
She ran seven times between Safa and Marwah before water sprang up under the baby's foot.
Q 10In what year did Muhammad perform his first and only Hajj, the Farewell Pilgrimage?
632
He had cleansed the Kaaba of idols two years earlier; he died later the same year.
Q 11What was the title of the official who commanded the great medieval pilgrim caravans to Mecca?
Amir al-hajj
Under the Mamluks and Ottomans the caravans travelled with soldiers and physicians against Bedouin raiders and thirst.
Q 12What is the white-garbed state of consecration a pilgrim enters before the Hajj called?
Ihram
Men wear two unstitched white cloths; the garments are meant to erase distinctions of wealth and recall burial shrouds.
Q 13Which of these is forbidden while a pilgrim is in the consecrated state?
Clipping nails
Also banned are perfume, hunting, uprooting plants, marrying and, for men, covering the head.
Q 21Roughly how far east of Mecca is the plain of Arafat?
About 20 km
Pilgrims must leave for Muzdalifah after sunset without praying the sunset prayer at Arafat.
Q 22What is Jabal al-Rahmah, the hill on the plain of Arafat, said to be the site of?
Muhammad's Farewell Sermon
The name means Mount of Mercy; scholars deliver the Hajj sermon from near it.
Q 23What do pilgrims gather during their night in the open at Muzdalifah?
Pebbles for the stoning ritual
They pray the sunset and night prayers together there and sleep on the ground under the sky.
Q 14What is tawaf?
Walking seven times around the Kaaba
The circuits go counter-clockwise, each beginning and ending at the Black Stone.
Q 15How are men encouraged to perform the first three circuits of tawaf?
Hurried, in a gait called ramal
The remaining four circuits are taken at a more leisurely pace.
Q 16What may pilgrims do on each circuit if the crowd makes it impossible to touch or kiss the Black Stone?
Point towards it with the right hand
Water is allowed, even encouraged, during tawaf because of the risk of dehydration; food is not.
Q 17What is sa'i?
Walking seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah
Once done in the open air, the course is now enclosed inside the Sacred Mosque with air-conditioned tunnels and an express lane.
Q 18Two green pillars along the sa'i course mark what?
A short section where pilgrims run
Elsewhere pilgrims are advised to walk.
Q 19The 9th day of the pilgrimage month, considered the day of Hajj itself, is known as what?
The Day of Arafah
Pilgrims stand in vigil from noon to sunset; without an afternoon at Arafat the Hajj is invalid.
Q 20What does 'Tarwiyah', the name of the first day of Hajj, mean in Arabic?
To quench thirst
Pilgrims once had to carry their own water from Mecca to waterless Arafat and reminded each other to drink up.
Q 24On the 10th day of the month, how many stones does a pilgrim throw, and where?
Seven, at the largest pillar only
The other two pillars are stoned on the following days; all three represent Satan.
Q 25For safety, what replaced the three stoning pillars at Mina in 2004?
Long walls with catch basins
Pilgrims throw from ramps on the multi-level Jamaraat Bridge.
Q 26How do many pilgrims now fulfil the animal sacrifice without being present at the slaughter?
By buying a voucher beforehand
Modern abattoirs process the meat and send it as charity to the poor worldwide.
Q 27Which global festival coincides with the sacrifice at Mina?
Eid al-Adha
It commemorates the patriarch's willingness to sacrifice his son, and a ram being provided in his place.
Q 28What do male pilgrims do after the sacrifice, in the rite called halak?
Shave or trim their hair
Women cut the ends of their hair instead.
Q 29What is the Tawaf al-Wadaa?
The farewell circling of the Kaaba before leaving Mecca
Wadaa means 'to bid farewell'.
Q 30What title may a pilgrim add to their name after completing the Hajj?
Al-Hajji
Scholars stress it should signal religious commitment, not social status.